Beverage dispensing system



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m m N E. C. PURSIF'ULL BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM Filed June 12, 1964FIG.3

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IN VEN TORL ELMER C. PURSIFULL a ea/we III. I

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3,329,156 BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM Elmer C. Pursifull, HamiltonCounty, Ohio (RR. 1, Willey Road, Harrison, Ohio 45030) Filed June 12,1964, Ser. No. 374,616 Claims. (Cl. 137-212) This invention relates toapparatus for dispensing beverages such as beer and the like. Thedelivery truck driver usually delivers draft beer to the refrigeratedcooler room of taverns and other beer dispensing establishments, in bulkcontainers such as barrels, half barrels, or the like. The bulkcontainers of beer are stored in the refrigerated cooler room of theestablishment until needed to supply the establishments trade. It iscustomary to completely dispense the contents of one such containerbefore commencing to dispense the contents of a succeeding container oflike beverage. A pipe or other suitable conduit extends from theinterior of the cooler to a faucet valve or spigot at the bar of theestablishment. In the cooler, a hose or tube connects the dispensingconduit and a conventional dip-pipe o-r tap which is insertable into thebulk container. The tap usually withdraws liquid from the lower portionof the container and permits application of pressure to the uppersurface of the liquid remaining therein.

When the contents have been dispensed from one such bulk container it isusual to bleed gas from the empty container to reduce the internalpressure to atmospheric levels and then remove the tap therefrom and tapanother full container. Such tapping involves, among other things, thedriving the bung or plug, which prevents escape of the contents from thecontainer, into the container ahead of the dip pipe or tap and sealingthe latter to the container to prevent uncontrolled escape of gas andliquid contents so that the liquid contents thereof may be withdrawnthrough the spigot at the bar into glasses, mugs, or the like.

Draft beer has for many years been dispensed in taverns and other publicestablishments by bartenders who were usually men. The operation oftapping a barrel or other bulk container of beer is of such nature thatfew women are able to perform it and it is an operation which may berequired at irregular intervals, whenever the container of beer beingdispensed is emptied. For this reason, few women have followed theoccupation of bartender even though in recent years there has been atrend toward employment of increasing numbers of women in suchestablishments.

An object of this invention is to provide a dispensing system for draftbeer which makes it possible to tap a plurality of barrels at a singletime, as when the barrels are delivered to the refrigerated room, sothat the delivery man can perform the tapping operation.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a dispensingsystem in which a series of tapped barrels can all be connected to thesame dispensing faucet Without interference between barrels.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dispensing system fordraft beer and the like in which each tapped barrel other than the onefrom which beer is being dispensed at a given time is closed up by apositively acting valve and in which operation of a simple valverequiring minimum strength for operation disconnects one barrel whileconnecting another barrel to the dispensing line.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a dispensingsystem in which the valves for closing off the beer dispensing line arespring operated and in which air or other fluid under pressure can beintroduced into a valve cylinder to permit release of each valve, thefluid United States Patent 0 also being connected to the interior of thevalve to pressurize the barrel.

The above and other objects of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the followingdetailed description, and the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic view showing a beer dispensing systemconstructed in accordance with an embodirnent of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in transverse section of the head portion of one of thebarrels of the dispensing system with the tapping arrangement attachedthereto;

FIG. 3 is a view in transverse section of one of the valves thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vieW in section taken on the line 44 in FIG. 3,and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of one of the air valves of the system in analternate position.

In the following detailed description and the drawing, like referencecharacters indicate like parts.

In FIG. 1 is illustrated a beer dispensing system constructed inaccordance with an embodiment of this invention. Barrels 10 and 10a canbe placed in an appropriate refrigerated room (not shown in detail) inthe usual fashion. Each barrel can be tapped at the time it is placed inthe refrigerated room by means of tapping apparatus, which can be of theusual construction. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper end of barrel 10includes an upwardly extending neck 12 having outwardly extendingflanges 13 and 14 on which the tapping device is mounted. A ring 14 canengage the flanges 13 and 14 in a bayonet-type connection. A hollowhousing 16 is held by the ring 14 in engagement with a gasket 17 to forma seal between the housing 16 and the neck 12. The housing 16 has a sidearm 18 through which gas under pressure such as compressed air, carbondioxide, or the like can be introduced to provide pressure in the upperend of the barrel 10. A dip tube 19 extends through the housing 16 andis sealed thereto by a ring gasket 21 held in place thereon by a cap 22.Each barrel is tapped in the usual fashion by driving the dip tube 19downwardly into the barrel to the position shown in FIG. 1.

Connections from the barrels 10 are shown in FIG. 1. A gas underpressure such as compressed air is supplied by a source of compressedair 23 which can include a compressor and storage tank (not shown) andcompressed air is supplied through air valves 24 and 24a to the barrels1t] and 10a respectively and to spring and air operated valves 25 and25a respectively. When beer is to be dispensed from a selected barrel,the valve associated therewith is disposed in the position at which thevalve 24a is shown in FIG. 1. When the valve 24a is in this position,air under pressure, supplied to the valve 24a through a line 26, isdirected to the valve 25a through a line 27 and to the side arm 18athrough a line 28 and thence to the upper portion of the barrel 10a topressurize the contents of the barrel.

The valves 25 and 25a are connected to the barrels 10 and 10a,respectively, and also to a manifold 31. The manifold 31, in turn, isconnected to a line 32 which leads to a conventional dispensing valve33.

Details of construction of the valve 25 are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thevalve 24 includes a housing 36 having an inlet port 37 and an outletport 38 therein. A valve plug 39 is normally held in the full lineposition of FIG. 3 by a spring 41 which engages a piston 42. The spring41 and the piston 42 operate inside an air cylinder 43, which is mountedon and connected to the housing 36 by a yoke 44. Air under perssure canbe introduced into the air cylinder 43 through the line 27. The line 27(FIG. 4) connects with the interior of the air cylinder 43 through apassageway 46. When the air valve is in the position shown at 24a inFIG. 1, air pressure in the air cylinder raises the piston 42 (FIGS. 3and 4) to release the plug 39 from its seat and raises the plug to thedot-dash line position of FIG. 3 and permits communication between theinlet port 37 and the outlet port 38. The inlet port 37 is connected tothe dip tube 19a and the outlet port 30 is connected to the manifold 31so that, when the valve 25a is open beer can be dispensed from thebarrel 10a.

When one of the barrels has been emptied, the air valve associatedtherewith is turned to the position indicated in FIG. at which the lines27 and 28 are connected to a vent line 48. Thus, when the air valve isin this position, the vent line 48 is connected to the upper portion ofthe barrel to permit discharge of any remaining pressure therein, and,in addition, the vent line is connected to the air valve to permitclosing thereof. Then the valve of the next barrel is turned to the ONposition to permit dispensing of beer therefrom.

The barrels 1t) and a, the manifold 31, and the valves and 25a can allbe located in a refrigerated room while the dispensing valve 33 and theair valves 24 and 24a are located where readily available for operationby a waitress or bartender.

The beer dispensing system illustrated in the drawing and describedabove is subject to structural modification without departing from thespirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. A system for dispensing a beverage from a plurality of containersthereof which comprises a manifold, a plurality of spring loadednormally closed valves connected to the manifold, a dip tube extendinginto each of the containers each of said valves including a body havinga first port in communication with the manifold and a second port incommunication with the dip tube extending into one of the containers,there being a valve seat surrounding the second port, a valve plug forclosing the valve seat, a cylinder mounted on the body, a piston in saidcylinder and connected to the plug, spring means urging the plug toclosed position, the spring means being sufliciently strong to hold thevalve plug in closed position against normal container pressure, asource of gas under pressure, line means for connecting said source to acylinder of each of spring loaded valves for raising the plug thereoffrom the seat thereof, line means for connecting said source to theinterior of each of the containers to maintain pressure therein, controlvalve means in said line means and constructed and arranged to admitfluid under pressure to a selected one only of the spring loaded valvesand to the container associated therewith, and means connected to themanifold for dispensing the beverage, said control valve meanscomprising a separate multiway valve for each container, each multiwayvalve 'being constructed and arranged so that in a first position itsupplies gas pressure to its container and associated spring loadedvalve and in a second position it vents to atmosphere its container andassociated spring loaded valve.

2. A system for dispensing a beverage from a plurality of containersthereof which comprises a manifold, a plurality of spring loadednormally closed valves connected to the manifold, a dip tube extendinginto each of the containers, each of said valves including a body havinga first port in communication with the manifold and a second port incommunication with the dip tube extending into one of the containers,there being a valve seat surrounding one of the ports, a valve plug forclosing the seat, a cylinder mounted on the body, a piston in saidcylinder and connected to the plug, spring means urging the plug toclosed position, a source of gas under pressure, a line for connectingsaid source to the cylinder of each of the spring loaded valves forraising the plug thereof from the seat thereof, a line for connectingsaid source to the interior of each of the containers to maintainpressure therein, control valve means in said lines and constructed andarranged to admit fluid under pressure to a selected one only of thespring loaded valves and to the container associated therewith, andmeans connected to the manifold for dispensing the beverage, saidcontrol valve means comprising a separate multiway valve for eachcontainer, each multiway valve being constructed and arranged so that ina first position it supplies gas pressure to its container andassociated spring loaded valve and in a second position it vents toatmosphere its container and associated spring loaded valve.

3. A system for dispensing beer-like beverage from a plurality ofcontainers thereof which comprises a manifold, a plurality of springloaded normally closed valves connected to the manifold, a dip tubeextending into each of the containers, each of said valves including abody having a first port in communication with the manifold and a secondport in communication with the dip tube extending into one of thecontainers, there being a valve seat surrounding the second port, avalve plug for closing the valve seat, a cylinder mounted on the body, apiston in said cylinder and connected to the plug, spring means urgingthe plug to closed position, the spring means being sufficiently strongto hold the valve plug in closed position against normal containerpressure, a source of air under pressure, line means for connecting saidsource to the cylinder of each of the spring loaded valves for raisingthe plug thereof from the seat thereof, line means for connecting saidsource to the interior of each of the containers to maintain pressuretherein, and control valve means in said line means and constructed andarranged to admit fluid under pressure to a selected one of the springloaded valves and to the container associated therewith, and meansconnected to the manifold for dispensing the beverage, said controlvalve means comprising a separate multiway valve for each container,each multiway valve being constructed and arranged so that in a firstposition it supplies gas pressure to its container and associated springloaded valve and in a second position it vents to atmosphere itscontainer and associated spring loaded valve.

4. A system for dispensing a beer-like beverage from a plurality ofcontainers thereof which comprises a manifold, a plurality of normallyclosed valves connected to the manifold, a dip tube extending into eachof the containers each of said valves including a body having a firstport in communication with the manifold and a second port incommunication with a dip tube extending into one of the containers,there being a valve seat surrounding the second port, a valve plug forclosing the valve seat, a cylinder mounted on the body, a piston in saidcylinder and connected to the plug, means for urging the plug to closedposition to hold the valve plug in closed position against normalcontainer pressure, a source of gas under pressure, means for connectingsaid source to the cylinder of each of the said normally closed valvesfor raising the plug thereof from the seat thereof, means for connectingsaid source to the interior of each of the containers to maintainpressure therein, control valve means in said line and constructed andarranged to admit fluid under pressure to a selected one of the normallyclosed valves and to the container associated therewith, and meansconnected to the manifold for dispensing the beverage, said controlvalve means comprising a separate multiway valve for each container,each multiway valve being constructed and arranged so that in a firstposition it supplies gas pressure to its container and associatednormally closed valve and in a second position it vents to atmosphereits container and associated normally closed valve.

5. A system for dispensing a beer-like beverage from a plurality ofcontainers thereof which comprises a mani- 5 fold, a plurality ofnormally closed valves connected to the manifold, a dip tube extendinginto each of the containers, each of said valves including a body havinga first port in communication With the manifold and a sec ond port incommunication with a dip tube extending into one of the containers,there being a valve seat in said body, a valve plug for closing thevalve seat, a fluid pressure responsive valve operator mounted on thebody for raising the plug thereof from the seat therein, means forurging the plug to closed position to hold the valve plug on the valveseat against normal container pressure, a source of gas under pressure,control valve means comprising a separate multiway valve for eachcontainer, each multiway valve being constructed and arranged so that ina first position gas is supplied therethrough from said source to arespective one of said References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 719,8462/1903 Neubert 137212 X 2,482,778 9/ 1949 Joerren l37-212 2,818,12112/1957 Clifford l37--209 ALAN COHAN, Primary Examiner.

1. A SYSTEM FOR DISPENSING A BEVERAGE FROM A PLURALITY OF CONTAINERS THEREOF WHICH COMPRISES A MANIFOLD, A PLURALITY OF SPRING LOADED NORMALLY CLOSED VALVES CONNECTED TO THE MANIFOLD, A DIP TUBE EXTENDING INTO EACH OF THE CONTAINERS EACH OF SAID VALVES INCLUDING A BODY HAVING A FIRST PORT IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE MANIFOLD AND A SECOND PORT IN COMMUNICATION WITH THE DIP TUBE EXTENDING INTO ONE OF THE CONTAINERS, THERE BEING A VALVE SEAT SURROUNDING THE SECOND PORT, A VALVE PLUG FOR CLOSING THE VALVE SEAT, A CYLINDER MOUNTED ON THE BODY, A PISTON IN SAID CYLINDER AND CONNECTED TO THE PLUG, SPRING MEANS URGING THE PLUG TO CLOSED POSITION, THE SPRING MEANS BEING SUFFICIENTLY STRONG TO HOLD THE VALVE PLUG IN CLOSED POSITION AGAINST NORMAL CONTAINER PRESSURE, A SOURCE OF GAS UNDER PRESSURE, LINE MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID SOURCE TO A CYLINDER OF EACH OF SPRING LOADED VALVES FOR RAISING THE PLUG THEREOF FROM THE SEAT THEREOF, LINE MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID SOURCE TO THE INTERIOR OF EACH OF THE CONTAINERS TO MAINTAIN PRESSURE THEREIN, CONTROL VALVE MEANS IN SAID LINE MEANS AND CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TO ADMIT FLUID UNDER PRESSURE TO A SELECTED ONE ONLY OF THE SPRING LOADED VALVES AND TO THE CONTAINER ASSOCIATED THEREWITH, AND MEANS CONNECTED TO THE MANIFOLD FOR DISPENSING THE BEVERAGE, SAID CONTROL VALVE MEANS COMPRISING A SEPARATE MULTIWAY VALVE FOR EACH CONTAINER, EACH MULTIWAY VALVE BEING CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED SO THAT IN A FIRST POSITION IT SUPPLIES GAS PRESSURE TO ITS CONTAINER AND ASSOCIATED SPRING LOADED VALVE AND IN A SECOND POSITION IT VENTS TO ATMOSPHERE ITS CONTAINER AND ASSOCIATED SPRING LOADED VALVE. 